A Whale of a Feast

"Maritime trade, fleet routes—full-scale war on every front!"

"In one sentence: on the sea, there can be them or us."

"Either they die, or we live!"

"Yes, Head of the Family."

Butler Liu accepted the order and left in quick strides.

"Dad, will this work?"

Xia Yang was somewhat worried.

"Why wouldn't it?"

Xia Shi rubbed his son's hair and said, "Kid, don't underestimate your dad's reputation at sea."

"The title 'North Mystic Black Tortoise' wasn't earned for nothing!"

"This time, even if we can't crush them, we'll make them shed a layer of skin."

Seeing this, Huo Yang also stood and called outside, "Someone."

A white-robed deacon from Spirit Hall entered in response.

"Convey my order—as Bishop of Spirit Hall."

Huo Yang's voice turned solemn as he commanded, "From this day onward, the Xiling Harbor Martial Soul Branch Hall will fully target the Zhao Family of the City Lord Manor and strike at their Soul Master forces."

"Yes, Bishop! We should have shown those Heaven Dou nobles what we're made of long ago."

The white-robed deacon accepted the order, turned, and hurried away.

Only then did Huo Yang turn to her son, her tone softening. "Yang'er, go back and rest first."

"We'll begin guiding your cultivation tomorrow. We still have quite a few arrangements to make today."

"Got it, Mom and Dad."

The three looked at each other and nodded before going their separate ways. The hall returned to silence, with only the lingering charm of their fierce dispute quietly spreading through the air.

The air in Xiling Harbor was thick with tension.

News of the split between Spirit Hall's Xia Family and the City Lord's Zhao Family swept through the city like a tsunami.

The Soul Masters under both sides were being mobilized frequently, while undercurrents stirred along the maritime trade routes.

Even the entire port city was enveloped in an atmosphere of an impending storm.

Within the Martial Soul Hall Branch, Xia Shi and Huo Yang were methodically coordinating the Various Factions.

People came and went within the hall. Spirit Hall deacons and several Sea Soul Masters all hurriedly relayed orders.

A war without smoke was quietly unfolding.

Meanwhile, Xia Yang sat alone in the library.

The thick Spirit Beast Compendium lay open on the table. This book, which had once kept him so engrossed that he forgot to eat and sleep, could no longer hold his attention.

Xia Yang's fingers unconsciously brushed across the illustrations on its pages, but his gaze drifted far away.

"What should I do?"

"Bone Martial Soul... do I have Shikotsumyaku, or Susanoo?"

Xia Yang leaned back against his chair, rubbing his temples as he began considering his future path.

"But with my Innate Half-Rank Soul Power, how can I ever reach the heights of either of those?"

"If I cultivate step by step, I'll probably only get stuck at Level 29 Soul Power. Don't tell me I'm going to become the second Yu Xiaogang."

"No, Yu Xiaogang was stuck at Level 29 not only because he had just half a rank of Innate Soul Power, but probably because his first two Spirit Ring choices were unsuitable as well."

"If I choose my first two Spirit Rings correctly, I may still have a chance of breaking through to Level 30 Soul Elder."

"Still, it's only a slight possibility."

Xia Yang continued pondering.

But the more Xia Yang thought about it, the angrier he became. He was a transmigrator, for crying out loud. How could he be so unlucky?

"Damn it, what should I do?"

"Calm down. Don't panic. Don't rage helplessly. I need to calm down."

Xia Yang closed his eyes and began steadying his emotions.

After a while, Xia Yang opened his eyes again.

By then, all his earlier restlessness had vanished.

"To solve my problem, the best way is to find the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well from the Original Work."

"Then I can find an immortal herb and eat it. An immortal herb will definitely solve my problem."

"But the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well is in Sunset Forest, and I don't know its exact location."

"Even if I tell Mom and Dad about the immortal herbs directly, setting aside the question of where the information came from, the uncertainty would still be too great even if they went looking."

"Who knows? The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well might already have been occupied by Dugu Bo."

"So if we go there directly, setting aside the time needed to search, Dugu Bo alone would make it far too dangerous."

"And there's another point. In the Original Work, among those who consumed immortal herbs, Yu Xiaogang had the lowest Soul Power."

"But even Yu Xiaogang had reached Level 29 at the time, and he was already older."

"So, to be safe, I'd better not consume immortal herbs before reaching Level 29 myself."

"That means my biggest priority now isn't finding immortal herbs, but rapidly cultivating to Level Twenty-Nine."

"To reach Level 29, aside from ordinary cultivation, I need to choose suitable and correct Spirit Rings at Levels 10 and 20."

"But I'm only at half a rank right now. I'll have time to consider Spirit Ring choices later."

"Right now, the biggest question is what methods I have to aid my cultivation."

"There are two aspects to cultivation: speed and quality."

"Because of my Innate Soul Power, there's no solution for speed at the moment. I can only cultivate bit by bit."

"But what about quality? Other than ordinary meditation, what else do I have?"

At that point, Xia Yang began recalling his life before transmigrating.

Especially the several Douluo Continent novels. Though he had not finished reading them all,

he had still picked up useful information from fanfiction.

At last, Xia Yang remembered something.

"The Body Sect in the Peerless Tang Sect... helping body martial souls evolve... deep-sea pressure to temper the body?"

"Yes, that's it."

"Besides ordinary meditation, I can also train my body."

"Weight training, Tidal Body Refinement, Deep Sea Swimming—I can try all of them."

Xia Yang clenched his fists, thrilled by his idea.

"The deep sea, body tempering... right, there's also Whale Rubber."

"Yes, that's right. This is what I need—Whale Rubber!"

Suddenly, inspiration flashed through Xia Yang's mind, and he remembered what Whale Rubber could do.

"In Douluo Continent, Whale Rubber can comprehensively improve a Soul Master's Physical Quality."

"And as long as a Soul Master's Physical Quality is sufficient, they can absorb Spirit Rings beyond their Year Limit."

"For Spirit Rings below the ten-thousand-year limit, as long as a Soul Master's Physical Quality is sufficient, they can absorb them beyond their level."

"Whale Rubber, it's you!"

"And I live by the sea. Both my parents are Soul King-level Experts, our family isn't short on money, and Dad is a Sea Soul Master."

"So whether we buy Whale Rubber directly or hunt Whale Soul Beasts at sea to obtain it, both are things our family can manage."

"Therefore, Whale Rubber, you're my golden finger, Xia Yang's golden finger!"

Xia Yang's eyes shone frighteningly bright. This discovery excited him so much that his hands trembled faintly.

He immediately got to his feet and hurried toward his parents' room. He wanted to discuss Whale Rubber with them.

Moonlight flowed like water, quietly spilling across Spirit Hall's corridors.

Xia Yang arrived outside his parents' room and could faintly hear discussion within. They seemed to be arranging a plan to strike the Zhao Family Merchant Group.